


Old soul, waiting my turn

by yeahitshowed



Category: Teenage Bounty Hunters
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeahitshowed/pseuds/yeahitshowed
Summary: Following the lock-in, Sterling stops coming to school.
Relationships: Sterling Wesley/April Stevens
Comments: 16
Kudos: 226





	Old soul, waiting my turn

The day after the lock-in, Blair came to school alone. 

Half-hiding behind her locker, April watched her walk in, scanning the crowd of kids for any sign of Sterling. 

“‘Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?’” Luke leaned against the row of lockers, grinning his big dumb grin. “Get it? Because - ”

“I got it,” April snapped, still searching for Sterling. Remembering that she was supposed to like-like this guy, she forced a smile. “ _A New Hope_. Nice.”

“I guess that makes you the Luke to my Leia,” Luke said, waggling his eyebrows. 

April fought to keep her smile from slipping. “Couple problems with that, bud.” 

“Hey, you guys,” Ezekiel called. He and Hannah B. were stapling posters for an upcoming bake sale to the school’s main bulletin board (against April’s advice, they had made the tagline a bastardized version of Matthew 28:6: “Yeast is not beer: for yeast is risen, and is bread”). “Having fun over there?” 

“Tons of fun, Ezekiel,” April called back, snaking her arm around Luke’s. She assumed that the word had already gotten out about their little flirtation, but there was no harm in making sure a bit more of the Willingham student body saw them together. 

“Whoa,” Luke said, staring down at their linked arms. “First base already.” 

As much as April would have loved to hear what Luke thought the bases were, she had more pressing matters to get to. “Have you seen Sterling today?” she asked as casually as she could manage.

Luke tensed up. “Why would I have seen Sterling?” 

“Because it’s a small school?”

“I haven’t seen her in - gosh, it’s been forever.”

“You saw her last night,” April reminded him. “Everyone did.”

“Oh, Sterling _Wesley,_ ” Luke said. April could feel his arm getting progressively sweatier. “You know what’s crazy - I have to get to class. Like, right now.” 

“The bell hasn’t rung yet, and you’re chronically late to class.” 

“Bye, April!” Luke said, stumbling away from her into what she was almost certain was a janitor’s closet. 

Ezekiel and Hannah B. gave her enthusiastic thumbs-up from across the hall. Sighing, she stuck up her thumb, silently thanking God that she wasn’t straight. 

-

The days kept passing, and Blair kept arriving alone, glaring down anyone who tried to talk to her. 

Sterling needing some space was perfectly understandable. After Adele Meisner moved away, April had stayed home from school for three days, insisting to her parents that she was following Jesus’s example of how to bounce back from a bad situation. 

But after a full week of Sterling staying AWOL, she started getting nervous. Sterling wasn’t as exemplary a student as April was - a fact that usually gave April quite the serotonin rush to think about - but missing this much school was worrisome, no matter the reason.

“Hey,” April said, cornering Blair on their way out of Spanish. “ _Quisiera hablar contigo._ ”

Blair gave her a blistering once-over. “ _Gracias, pero no gracias_.”

“Is Sterling okay?” she asked. “No one’s seen her since the lock-in.” 

“I don’t know,” Blair said, crossing her arms. “Maybe she just doesn’t want to watch you play weirdly-competitive footsie with her ex-boyfriend every day.”

“Is the goal not to pin the other person’s foot down? Luke wasn’t very clear when he explained the rules.” 

“What’s the deal with you two, anyway?” Blair said. “Is he your beard, or what? Because if you’re actually two-timing my sister, then you and I are gonna have a problem. Like, a pistols-at-dawn kind of problem.” 

April blinked. “What?” 

“I think I was pretty clear, Stevens.” Blair took a menacing step forward. “Are you a _tramposa_ or not?”

“Language, ladies,” said Señora O’Reilly, emerging from the classroom with a frown. 

“Sorry, Señora O’Reilly.” Blair put on her best innocent face. “I heard that word on this really cool telenovela the other night. Could you tell me what it means?” 

“I’ll tell you when you’re a little older,” Señora O’Reilly said awkwardly. “But I’m glad to hear that you’re expanding your TV horizons!”

“Sterling didn’t tell you?” April said once their teacher was well out of earshot. 

“Tell me what?” 

“We’re not together anymore,” April said, lowering her voice. “I - we - ended it.” 

“Oh. That was fast.” 

“Can you tell her that I’m around, if she wants to talk? I know she’s upset, but it’s not worth wrecking her GPA.”

Blair laughed the most humorless laugh April had ever heard. “You think she’s staying home because of you?” 

“...Yes?” 

“For the record, this is why I’ve never liked you,” Blair said, turning toward her next class. “You’d think you’d have learned on one of your million mission trips that the world doesn’t always revolve around you.” 

April made her way down the hall, her head reeling. Sterling told Blair everything, down to what snack she’d decided to bring for debate practice. Why wouldn’t she have told Blair about their breakup? What the hell else was going on to keep her home for a whole week? 

Pulling out her phone (after a quick check to make sure Ellen wasn’t around, since she wasn’t in the mood to be called a MOBOT), April sent a quick text: _can we talk?_

-

Her text went unanswered, as did the next ten or so April sent over the coming days. Blair started dodging her between classes, refusing to give her any further information. “Can you at least tell her to turn on read receipts?” April shouted on their way out of Fellowship one day, earning her a discreet middle finger when Ellen wasn’t looking.

She and Luke went on a few boring dates, all of which ended with about fifteen minutes of equally boring making out. “You’re so good at resisting temptation,” Luke said admiringly when April insisted it was time for her to head home. “You must really be in close communion with the Lord.” 

“‘For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace,’” April quoted. “Do you use mouthwash, Luke? I think some Extra-Strength Listerine would do wonders for you.”

Finally, after two weeks of absences, Sterling showed up, her uniform unironed and her hair hanging limply unstyled. Blair shepherded her from class to class, an arm protectively slung over Sterling’s shoulders. 

April tried to catch her eye every time they passed each other, but Sterling stared straight ahead, barely blinking. (Blair, on the other hand, kept mouthing something that was either ‘back off’ or ‘fuck off.’ Either way, she got her point across.)

When Blair ducked into the bathroom during the fourth passing period of the day, April pounced.

“Hey,” she said, grabbing Sterling by the wrist to get her to stop walking. “Thank God you’re back. Are you okay?” 

Although their tryst had been short-lived, April had gotten used to the gooey looks that Sterling would give her throughout the day, the almost puppy-ish affection that Sterling was weirdly comfortable with displaying during school hours. The look that Sterling gave her now - not cold, but indifferent, as if she were a stranger - made her feel like they were back in fifth grade, with Sterling casually pushing her out of her life like it was nothing. It was like they’d never been together at all. 

“I’m fine,” Sterling said, readjusting her backpack straps. “How’re you?” 

“You’ve been gone for weeks,” April said, starting to feel like she was going insane. “I was really worried. Didn’t you get my texts?” 

“Oh yeah,” Sterling said, taking out her phone. April could see the little red notification indicating her number of unread texts: 124. A new text popped up from someone named Bowser, and Sterling moved to hide the screen. “Sorry. I’ve been kind of busy.” 

“With what?” April demanded. “What is going on with you?” 

Sterling gave her another look; this one definitely moved from indifferent to straight-up cold. “Why do you care? Are you trying to blackmail your way into becoming fellowship leader? No, wait - that’s what you did the _last_ time something was ‘going on with me.’”

April wilted, glancing around at the students filtering past them. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she said softly. “Not just - you know, with the condom wrapper thing. I care about you, Sterl. If something’s wrong, I want to help.” 

“You must be thinking of someone else,” Sterling said, and turned on her heel to leave. Blair ran to catch up with her, shooting April one last scowl over her shoulder. 

-

Right after the dismissal bell, April sought out the least-used stairwell in the school, plopped down on the top step, and started to cry into her shirtsleeve. Minutes later, Ellen found her; apparently, she used these stairs for some afternoon cardio, since they were usually empty. The Lord might work in mysterious ways, but sometimes, he was just a jerk. 

“Now, what on God’s green earth could make a superstar like April Stevens cry?” Ellen said, materializing a pack of tissues from seemingly nowhere. 

“It’s nothing, Ellen,” April said, blowing her nose. “It’s stupid.” 

“Is it stupid, or is it nothing? Because, knowing you, I highly doubt it’s either.” 

April gave a watery laugh. “It’s teenager stuff.”

“That’s heavy stuff.” Ellen rested her chin in her hands. “We don’t have to talk about it if you really don’t want to. But sometimes, I think it helps to just say whatever you’re thinking in front of another person.” 

“I can’t be totally honest right now,” April said, choosing her words carefully. “And that was fine for a while, but it’s starting to affect other people. It feels like I have to choose between staying safe and being happy, and I thought I had already made my choice, but...I don’t know.”

Ellen nodded. “There’s a big difference between making the choice and living the choice, right?” 

“Exactly,” April said eagerly. Was it possible that Ellen knew what she was talking about? Was she gay, too? Could she give April some real advice on how to navigate coming out in a culture that thought her very existence was a sin?

“I know it’s hard,” Ellen said kindly, placing a reassuring hand on April’s shoulder. “But honey, if you hadn’t told him, that boy would’ve gone on spreading halitosis every which way in this school.” 

“Told - what?”

“I heard Luke telling his golf friends that you recommended he get himself some mouthwash. That must’ve been a hard conversation, but someone had to do it. I don’t think Sterling ever did, poor soul.” Ellen looked at her intently. “I don’t mean to pry, but knowing Luke’s history, are y’all staying pure?” 

“I think I need to go,” April said, gathering her things and stuffing her used tissues in her pocket. 

“Did I cross a line there?” Ellen said anxiously. “You know I just love you kids so much - ”

“We’re pure as the driven snow, and plan to stay that way,” April said, hustling out of the stairwell. “See you tomorrow.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
